They Live By Night
by xXBalorBabeXx
Summary: Just a normal night, another event... until things are turned upside down and it catches the attention of those of the other realm.
1. Frustration Ain't Always Easy To Express

_**3/9/16, NXT, Amanda Cena vs Adrian Neville, 20 minutes ago…**_

" _Cena going-no wait, Neville reversing the inverted Mistress Chamber!" Tom Phillips exclaimed, jumping back in fright when Adrian slammed Amanda into the top turnbuckle and she lost her grip on him and fell._

 _It wasn't hard to tell that her shoulder was out of its socket… Amanda pulled herself up so she was propped up against the lower and middle turnbuckles and felt hands on her arm but then Finn turned to Adrian in anger._

 _Amanda took advantage of that and relocated her left shoulder, Finn turning back to her and keeping her from getting up._

" _I've got a match to get back to!" Amanda said quietly._

" _You've got a shoulder that needs to be fixed, the match can happen another time." Finn responded as he picked Amanda up into his arms and took her out of there…_

 **Present time...**

Adrian didn't attempt to find them just yet… he was kicking a crate in the backstage area before he was suddenly grabbed by Natasha and thrown into the wall.

"How does that feel, huh, being thrown with too much force?!" Natasha growled.

"It wasn't intentional, I know my limits with someone that small!" Adrian said defensively but Natasha could tell he was half lying.

"You do but you tossed them out the window tonight!" Natasha said.

"I got moved up to the main roster last year after three years of busting my ass here in NXT! But they keep dragging me back here and not putting me in the contention I've worked so hard for! Finn shows up and before I know it, I'm sitting back while he's getting opportunities and championships… more screen time than me and others all because he's banging the sister of one of the top guys in this company!" Adrian responded, getting angrier with every second… but he wasn't the only one.

From the trainer's office on the other side of the building, Amanda and Finn jumped out of their skin when they heard the scream and the wall break into pieces… Amanda started to stand up as flashbacks of Brock Lesnar throwing Matt Hardy through a wall nearly 14 years ago resurfaced but Finn got her to sit back down as her left shoulder had an ice pack taped to it.

"You don't think that was caused by Nikki's friend Natasha, do you?" Amanda asked, Nikki Cross having not yet introduced them to Natasha but had told them about her.

"It sounds like she's giving Adrian the beating he deserves." Finn answered as Amanda rubbed her now numb shoulder.

"You know it was an accident out there, we've both known him for years." Amanda said.

"Yeah… what was also an accident was Vlad the Impalor ordering the deaths of over 10,000 people, apparently he coughed and asked for water in his language but instead accidentally said 'kill everyone'." Finn responded, having been reading a few historical books lately out of an unknown sparked interest.

"The one part of History class I did really well in…" Amanda responded, the door flying open and then slamming shut as a frightened Bayley ran in. "How bad is it getting?" She asked.

"She's trying to murder him!" Bayley answered before the screaming suddenly stopped.

Natasha was pulled off of a bruised and bleeding Adrian, turned and saw Nikki.

"Natasha, it's over! It's done, he got the beating he deserved!" Nikki said.

"He deserves to burn in the dungeons!" Natasha growled, currently lost in her powers as her eyes were glowing red and her shoulders flickering with tiny fires around the outline of the pentagram scarred into her skin.

"Put those away before you traumatize everyone!" Nikki whispered, Natasha forcing herself back to her human form.

"Damn it, where did… ouch…" Natasha hissed after a moment, getting a deep set migraine as she sometimes did when she forced herself to change, as it put major strain on her to focus enough to do it. Otherwise it could take up to weeks for her to change back from even a half converted form.

Nikki led her to the trainer's office, Natasha seeing Bayley hiding under the table and walked over to her, Amanda and Finn.

"Is it over?" Bayley asked shakily.

"It's over… sorry about that." Natasha answered, helping Bayley up to her feet and glancing at Amanda.

"I don't want to… hear what he said, do I?" Amanda asked, knowing from the look in Natasha's eyes that Adrian had provoked her but not with anything he thought of Natasha.

"No, you don't. You also… don't want to know what I wanted to do back there." Natasha responded, Amanda swearing that when Natasha turned her head, when the light gave a side-on reflection to her eyes, they were almost tinted red like ruby crystals.

Amanda nodded and started removing the tape and ice pack from her shoulder, setting both aside… and Finn rested his left hand on the back of her neck, lightly rubbing it as he knew she had been fighting her suspicions that Adrian had started becoming unhappy with the direction things were going.

"He should've had the damn nerve to say it to us." Amanda muttered.

"Would it really make a difference? You'd still call out inseparable and he'd still be just as, if not even more angry… on things like this when they won't back off and agree that it's a solid thing, it's just inevitable." Natasha said in response.

Amanda nodded and headed off to get cleaned up after she and Finn hugged… when she was and after she was in normal clothes, her arm was placed into a sling and she saw Bayley take Finn's duffel bag before Bayley grabbed Amanda's and decided to let them talk.

"She's not angry… she's usually screaming when she is." Bayley said as Natasha took one of the duffel bags.

"She's hurt and betrayed, I know that feeling." Natasha replied.

"I hope that beating knocked some sense into him." Bayley responded as they put the duffel bags in the car.

Back in the locker room, Finn was sitting next to Amanda, who had her eyes closed for a few seconds as his hand lightly ran up and down her back.

"I feel so stupid for trusting him… first this whole thing with Seth, then the majority of the NXT locker room gets set off… why are people jumping off the damn rails?" Amanda said quietly.

"It's just different… people are naturally scared of the unknown, sometimes they come to hate it." Finn responded, his other hand lightly closing its fingers around her arm, the fingers slowly trailing around a bit.

"Well I hope at some point, they calm down… but that might not happen for a while." Amanda said, Finn helping her stand up and her rubbing her injured shoulder when pain jarred through it.

The two met up with Bayley, Natasha and Nikki, deciding on heading back to the hotel.


	2. Humans From A Demon's Viewpoint

_**11/28/04…**_

 _John didn't need to hear for long to know that the high pitched painful scream belonged to Amanda and ran to the backyard, Amanda curled on her left side onto the freezing ground and John crouching down to her._

" _Mandy, what happened?!" John asked, helping her sit up._

" _I saw someone out here… but when I went to go check on them, he tossed me out the window…" Amanda answered, the 14 year old feeling embarrassed more than anything… she tried to move her left arm but John stopped her, seeing how it was bent. "It's a really bad sign if I can't feel my fingers, right?" She asked as John helped her up… and through the dense fog, he saw a tall figure._

" _What the hell?" John muttered._

" _Uh, John? Please reset my arm." Amanda said, John snapping out of it and turning back to her._

" _Yeah, sure… brace for it, kiddo." John said, looking over the arm and getting a good position in both of his hands before quickly bending and twisting it back into the right position._

 _Amanda suppressed a scream and closed her eyes, taking a few deep breaths before opening her eyes as John helped her to the Charger._

 _At the ER, Elizabeth had just started her shift when she saw her boyfriend and his little sister walk in and ran over to them._

" _Damn it, what happened?!" Elizabeth asked as she examined Amanda's arm once they were in a trauma room._

" _Someone pulled he pulled her out the window." John explained._

" _Yeah…" Amanda responded, trying not to scream when sharp stabbing pains attacked her ribcage._

" _Damn, I think she might've broke a few ribs. I'll go call the x-ray techs, see if the room's busy." Elizabeth said before leaving._

" _When Mom and Dad hear about this one, I'm grounded." Amanda says quietly as John braced a hand on her back before his phone rang and he looked at it before letting it go to voicemail. "Right, Randy's gotta be going stir crazy." She said, remembering that their friend tended to call them a lot throughout the holiday season._

" _He can handle a few hours by himself." John responded, carefully hugging Amanda._

 _Lorka ran across the snow covered fields, realising his error._

" _Damn it… wasn't Natasha. She's gotta be somewhere." Lorka growled before disappearing into the fog._

 _Back at the Cena house, Amanda was settled into her room after explaining what had happened… but Carol could see that her daughter was scared._

" _Hey… it's alright, sweetie, he's not coming back." Carol whispered as she pulled Amanda into her arms, the two hugging._

 _It had taken some time for Amanda to calm down fully… but she kept a hunting rifle under her bed after that for protection…_

 **Present time…**

' _Okay… really? Three glasses of wine and three shots of tequila?'_ Natasha thought as they walked into the International Palms Hotel and she saw a drunk Alexa.

"And that's what we call trying to get rid of the midweek blues." Nikki said.

"That's what we call being as much of a lightweight drinker as she is wrestler, more like." Natasha replied.

"Mandy could drink more and still be standing… well, stumbling. Or jumping off a bar." Bayley said, Amanda's face going a scarlet red.

"I only did that twice, Bayley!" Amanda said, feeling slightly embarrassed… but Finn only knew of the incident in Japan last July and now he was curious. "Okay… I was a few days shy of 21, had a few too many shots of whiskey and jumped right off the bar and onto Dean and nearly broke his arms." She admitted, Natasha laughing.

"Get down from there! Come on, you're gonna hurt yourself!" Murphy said as he tried to get his intoxicated fiancee off the bar but Alexa backed away and pouted at him before she flashed the bar patrons, Natasha guiding the group to their rooms.

"That oughta take the attention off of what happened earlier. When those pictures end up online, she's in trouble." Finn responded.

"You know she'll find some way to blame us like always." Amanda said after they were in their room and she managed to unclip her sling, setting it aside before going and washing her makeup off.

When she was in her pajamas, Finn helped her put her arm in the sling and helped her lie down… but she wasn't giving into sleep even with him next to her, he knew she was thinking back to the ambulance leaving Full Sail University and how easily Natasha could've killed Adrian if she wasn't stopped.

Both heard thunder and saw lightning flash in the sky... but they remembered that Channel 13 news predicted that the weather would be clear tonight with temperatures in the low 50s.

"It's Florida… crazy weather happens, lass." Finn said as his right arm wrapped around Amanda, trying to reassure her.

The two settled into sleep, Amanda's head resting on Finn's left shoulder as his arms stayed secure around her but not too tightly.

Sometime in the predawn hours, Finn's eyes opened sleepily when he noticed that Amanda was sleeping with half of her body on top of his. He tried to stretch as carefully as he could but found that his pajama pants were uncomfortably tight and knew it was from Amanda's body being so close to his.

' _Damn it, not again!'_ Finn thought after fully waking up, trying to move without disturbing Amanda's sleep but she clung on tighter to him… and let out a contented moan as she eased herself onto him, her eyes opening halfway as he propped himself up against the headboard so she was straddling him.

"Ohhh… you don't realise what you do to me, love…" Finn managed to say in a raspy tone when he felt his pajama pants become tighter in response to the increasing heat between Amanda's legs and trailed his lips up Amanda's neck, leaving light bites as she tilted her head back and closed her eyes as his mouth left a slightly bruising kiss on her sternum after her sling and pajama top were gone.

"Rinneamar araon." Amanda whispered, Finn letting out a low growl of approval… something in him just went through the roof whenever Amanda spoke in his language.

"So good to me…" Finn whispered, lightly kissing Amanda's left shoulder and neck as she closed her eyes and tossed her head back after he had carefully put her on her back and pulled her pajama pants off… she moved her hips to him and tried to grab onto his hair but he kept her pinned down as he pulled her satin panties off.

With a final tug of his boxers and them disappearing into the darkened room, Finn reached over on the nightstand and took a condom out of the box left in their room and he put it on… Amanda's pulse was at immeasurable levels as he moved forward, the two losing awareness of everything around them.

Amanda tossed her head back and moaned out as she felt Finn's fingers dig into her hips, the two moving faster once the shockwaves of unadulterated bliss hit them harder.

By the time they crashed from the high they were on, there was nothing left of their voices left after the screams… opening his bright blue eyes, Finn looked down at Amanda, who's hazel eyes slowly opened and she looked up at him with an exhausted smile.

Once in each others arms and tangled up in the ivory bedsheets, Amanda rested her head on Finn's left shoulder as his left hand rested on her left hip.

She was no longer feeling pain in her shoulder… but she knew that was only a temporary effect of the endorphins coursing through her body.


	3. There's Always The Morning After

Amanda was slow to open her eyes… and looked around as it all crashed back to her.

' _It wasn't a dream…'_ She thought, seeing the condom wrapper on the bedside table. Amanda didn't even try to move Finn's arms off of her, she just wanted to stay there.

After everything that had happened, she didn't want to do anything yet except lay there… she was also really sensitive between her legs, the nerves felt like electricity was zapping through them.

Her whole body felt rushed even after the adrenaline was long gone, Finn's right hand resting on her sternum and his thumb lightly stroking her skin… he wasn't awake yet but his hand drifted lower, Amanda closing her eyes as her quiet breathing became heavier.

His fingers were dangerously close to the sensitive area of her body, Finn lightly trailing kisses up Amanda's neck… but just as his fingers drifted below her waist, Amanda attempted to move her left arm.

In the midst of everything, she had forgotten completely about the injury and muffled a scream as pain shot through her arm and shoulder, Finn's blue eyes snapping open and him bringing his right hand back up to lightly massage her injured shoulder.

"So sorry, love." Finn said.

"It's okay, I really shouldn't forget something like that… I don't know what the hell got into us last night." Amanda responded before her Samsung Galaxy s6 chimed and she picked it up to see an incoming video call from Seth but decided not to answer it and set it back down. "Knowing him, he's probably ignored the physical therapy for his knee and got a flight here to try to drag me outta here… unless someone called him and told him about what Natasha did." She said as Finn's right arm stayed wrapped around her upper body.

"Or both… heard of Natasha's actions and wants to drag you back to 'safety'." Finn replied.

"Yeah… well he can just-" Amanda started to say, cut off by an angered scream. "And now Little Miss Bliss is awake and knows about what happened at the bar." She said quietly, both knowing that it was Alexa in one of her moods.

"She can screw off… in you and I's relationship, you and I are all who matter." Finn responded.

"Damn right." Amanda replied before the two kissed… but it wasn't quiet for long as both heard a loud thud.

"Quiet! People are still trying to sleep!" Val said angrily after having thrown Alexa into the wall.

"I hardly got much sleep before I heard those damn demons at it!" Alexa shouted.

"You gonna blame them for the photos of you ending up online too?" Val asked sarcastically before both saw Natasha.

"I'm only gonna say this once. You think you're sleep deprived, you truly don't know that until you're woken up abruptly and realised you haven't slept for a full night in months." Natasha responded.

"Yeah, or until you've spent every night staring at a pile of muscle in your bed and forced yourself to stay aw-" Alexa started to reply, stopping suddenly as every muscle in her body seemed to lock up, Natasha stepping over to her and slowly walking around her, stopping after a few circles.

"Why are you so cold inside? So lonely… so many people to talk to yet you feel so alone…" Natasha said quietly, Alexa trying to struggle out of the ethereal grip she was held in. "And that Rollins, he's like the older brother you never had… he would've disappointed you, you know-"

"Get out of my head!" Alexa hissed, Natasha stepping back and in front of her.

"I know what your fears are, what makes you grip your pillow at night… you gave them to me. And now I'll give them to you… you think you know the sleep deprivation she suffers…" Natasha said before stepping right up to Alexa. "Try this… your dreams will fill with your highest terrors every night, for 40 nights." She said quietly, in a truly demonic sounding growl before she released Alexa from the hold and stepped back.

Alexa scrambled back and disappeared down the hallway, Natasha turning to Val.

"I hope she gets it by now…" Natasha said quietly.

"You feel… what we humans feel…" Val responded.

"One of the angels could explain what made humans in creation but… we demons are really just higher leveled versions of you." Natasha replied.

Natasha knocked on the door and Amanda, haphazardly having thrown her pajamas back on, opened the door, Natasha seeing her guarding her left arm.

"They give you any medicine last night for it?" Natasha asked.

"Just some Aleve… I can't tolerate stronger stuff anymore." Amanda answered, Val hearing her phone ring and answering it.

"How is she? I saw what happened last night during her match but she's not answering her phone." Dean replied.

"Mandy's alright, just a bit sore." Val answered.

"Any idea on what happened to Neville? I heard something about him getting thrown through a wall." Dean said.

"Someone arrived, Nikki's friend… she's pretty much unearthly, she threw Neville through the wall." Val replied.

"He should've kept his mouth shut and hands off of Mandy." Finn said, Dean having heard him once the phone was on speaker.

"Wait, the dislocated shoulder wasn't accidental?!" Dean asked.

"It was, he… he just wasn't the friend I thought he was." Amanda responded, Dean knowing the tone of her voice had changed.

"He's basically acting like…" Dean started to say.

"Yeah… wouldn't have made much difference if he had told me to my face how he felt." Amanda said, managing to find the sling and sitting back down next to Finn, who lightly rubbed her shoulders.

"Yeah, it wouldn't have… hey, I'm waiting outside the hotel, meet me out here when you're ready to." Dean said.

"Got it, Deano." Amanda responded before the call ended, Val and Natasha going to find Dean after closing the door.

"He knows about you now, so… I don't know if you tone yourself down for people who don't know who you are, but-" Val started to say.

"I don't… if there's someone who shouldn't know who I am, I just don't talk." Natasha responded.

"Think they're gonna be okay? Natalie's gonna get pissed when she finds out what happened." Val said.

"Adrian's wife?" Natasha asked, Val nodding. "I hope she gets angry at her husband for treating his 'friends' the way he did." She said.

Back in the hotel room, Amanda glanced at her phone.

"Nothing from Hunter yet… not sure if that's a good sign or not." Amanda said quietly before seeing a number flash across her screen and Finn seeing the look on her face.

"That's not Seth's number, who is it?" Finn asked.

"Someone I haven't spoken to much in almost nine years… there's no anger between him and me directly, it's just hard to talk to Kevin Sullivan at times. I know he loved Nancy, I just… I can't understand why he never said goodbye or goes to where she's buried to..." Amanda answered, Finn wrapping his arms around her and resting his head on her right shoulder.

"Sometimes… some people can't bear to acknowledge that someone's gone. I've seen it before, love… someone separating themselves from all memorials of a loved one, so that some tiny part of them can still believe that they're still alive somewhere." Finn responded.

The phone rang again but Amanda didn't answer it, thinking back instead.


	4. Lifetime Ago

_**9/24/06, ECW/SmackDown tapings…**_

 _Her eyes widened when she saw him and immediately, Amanda ducked behind a production crate as Kevin looked around._

" _Did you hear that?" Kevin asked after turning back to Arn Anderson._

" _Probably just one of the rookies tripping over something." Arn responded._

 _Amanda carefully re-tied her ring boots before she saw what looked like a small child crouched down in front of her until Amanda noticed the wings._

" _Hello… I think I'm a bit lost. I was looking for the great Redwood forest." The little girl said quietly, so no one else heard her._

" _I just… I'm just not sure how to talk to him, there's a lot of bad history between him and one of my friends." Amanda whispered, the little girl seeing Kevin._

" _Do you know how Redwoods stand so strong, how they grow so big? What we see is long tree trunks, all many feet apart. If you look under the surface… you'll see that their roots are all joined like a massive web. In a sense, the whole forest is one tree, what we perceive as the trees are really just the branches… something doesn't have to be seen for it to be there." The girl replied, Amanda feeling like she could see the trees spoke about in her mind, like they were known as well as her memories._

 _She turned back but the girl was gone… and she stood up, Kevin jumping back slightly as he didn't think she was behind the crate but he chuckled._

" _Good one, kiddo." Kevin said._

" _How have you been lately?" Amanda asked, absentmindedly readjusted her leopard print ring top as it had bunched up a bit when she hid._

" _Good as one can be… were you hiding from me?" Kevin responded._

" _Yeah… look, I'm not sure if you've noticed but I can still sense that things unintentionally get tense at times…" Amanda said, starting to ramble a bit but Kevin got her to sit down. "I really hope you don't hate me for feeling like that…"_

" _Hate you, why would I? You're older now, you start to pick up on these things and it's confusing at times." Kevin said._

" _Do you still love Nancy? In any way? I know she still talks about you, the good times you two had when you were younger." Amanda responded._

" _As a friend, yeah… but we can't change things." Kevin answered, noticing Ariel before she disappeared._

" _You saw her too, the little angel?" Amanda questioned._

" _Angels… in age, I'd started to doubt that they're real." Kevin replied._

" _They're a lot like spirits, they… appear when you least expect it." Amanda said as they stood up. "Bit nervous to go out there now, first match on live Tv. Do I look alright or should I go scrub this stuff off my face, does it make me look too aged?" She said, Kevin lightly patting her on her shoulder with a reassuring smile._

" _You'll be great out there… every one of us has had those first match nerves." Kevin responded before they hugged and Amanda left…_

 **Present time…**

"Part of me back then thought I would wait a while, I didn't expect a call from Stephanie saying _"Hey, there's been a no show and we need you out there tonight."_. It was nerve wracking… I also didn't think I'd see an angel that night either." Amanda said after they had gotten ready for the day and Finn helped her put her arm back in its sling.

"She was there right when you needed her… I wouldn't doubt that she'd appear when you need her again." Finn replied as he pressed the two sides of the velcro of the shoulder strap together.

"I don't doubt it either…" Amanda said as they left the room and met up with the others in the lobby, Finn pulling a chair out for Amanda and her sitting down before he sat down next to her.

"Hunter hasn't called yet?" Dean asked.

"Question is, how do we explain it to him? Or where to start..." Natasha responded.

"He can be very temperamental at times." Amanda said, Natasha knowing that behind the sling, there were scars on Amanda's arm from an old but bad break and knew what inflicted them.

"Listen, I… I'm gonna have to go back to… well, home. I just… something's hit me and I need time and isolation to think over it." Natasha said, looking up at everyone towards the end.

"Are you sure you'll be alright?" Finn asked.

"If you get too worried…" Natasha said before grabbing Finn's wrist with her left hand and with her right index finger, tracing a line over his skin as she wrote down an address. "There's an abandoned house at that street, in its basement is one of the few remaining physical portals to my side of reality. People on the other side will know who you are, take you to me." She finished before letting Finn's hand drop.

Natasha left and Amanda started thinking… and then it hit her.

"She knows who yanked me out the window that night… knows him very well." Amanda said quietly.

At the Performance Centre, it was Amanda who walked into Hunter's office with Finn… but he knew from the look on Amanda's face that Natasha had left.

"Will she… be coming back?" Hunter questioned.

"At some point… I'm not sure when." Amanda answered as they hugged, Amanda hissing slightly as she couldn't move her left arm and had to use her right. "Have you… spoken to Neville about last night?" She asked after they let go.

"Yes, and… let's just say he wasn't very calm." Hunter answered.

"If I had been thrown through a wall, I wouldn't be so calm either… it just drives me crazy that he deceived us like that, never once showing any sign of resentment." Amanda responded as Hunter noticed the teeth marks on her neck and Amanda's phone rang again. "Fuck." She muttered, Hunter letting her answer it. "What now, Rollins? I'm not in the damn mood for this!" She said but Seth wouldn't leave it at that.

"It ain't safe for you to be there when people are getting tossed through walls!" Seth said.

"Well Neville should've kept his mouth shut, it's his own fault! And your new surrogate sister needs you more than I do, call her!" Amanda responded, hanging up.

Hunter heard her mutter "Lets see how she fucking likes it when he turns possessive towards her." and saw Finn rub his right hand up and down Amanda's back.

"He's just using her to strike a nerve, don't-" Hunter started to say, all three hearing a knock at the door and Hunter standing up and walking over.

He opened it and Amanda's eyes widened in shock as did the eyes staring back at her.

"Hey…"

"Hi…"

Finn immediately put his right arm around Amanda, who reached her right hand up to his and felt his fingers wrap around it.

Kevin Sullivan had just walked back into Amanda's life... and from the look in his now narrowed eyes, he wasn't sure what to make of Amanda and Finn's closeness.


	5. Reemergence

"So where's… Natasha?" Kevin asked, the WCW veteran changing the subject.

"She said she had something to deal with at home." Amanda answered. "How do you know her?" She asked.

"I met her at WCW Fall Brawl in 1993… she may look as young as you are but demons don't age like humans, little one." Kevin responded.

Finn saw Amanda tense up and lightly rubbed his hand up and down her back, knowing from what she told him that no one called her 'Little one' since she was 17 and the last person to do so was gone.

"She didn't explain everything, just that it had something to do with a family matter." Finn said.

"Lorka." Kevin muttered, Amanda looking at him.

"What did you just say?" Amanda asked.

"When I met her… She wasn't here to just visit. She's the princess, daughter of Hell's king, and she'd lured another demon away to fight him down… Lorka was going to kill her father and take over. Natasha managed to fight him away but not destroy him." Kevin explained.

"So now she's gone back to…" Amanda said, absentmindedly rubbing her left arm.

"He mistook you for her?" Kevin asked.

"When I was 14, he tossed me out of my window and my arm got broken… first and last time I saw him." Amanda responded.

At the same time in his hospital room, Adrian had opened his eyes and saw Sami.

"Have you… absolutely lost your damn mind?!" Sami asked through gritted teeth, Adrian knowing that Sami had spoken to Natasha.

"I lost my damn mind?! Natasha nearly killed me!" Adrian responded as both saw Aestrid walk in.

"Ace, I thought you had today off." Sami said.

"I do… Then there were some very loud voices and it became a busman's vacation." Aestrid replied.

"This is… fuck this." Adrian muttered, attempting to call Amanda but Aestrid took the cellphone out of his hands.

"She ain't gonna talk to you, dipshit, not after last night!" Aestrid responded, Adrian pulling himself up and yanking the IV out and blood pressure cuff off before removing his hospital gown.

"She knows where Natasha is!" Adrian said, pulling his clothes back on.

"She probably does, and you know damn well that nothing you can do will make her utter a word of it to you. She's the same as Natasha herself… Torment and insanity doesn't make her break, it just makes her want to fight back more. The more you do to her, the worse you'll get back." Aestrid responded.

"She's got one arm in a sling, I can-" Adrian started to say, Sami shoving him into a chair.

"You know damn well Mandy will beat your ass senseless. And if I were you, I'd be worried about Finn or John finding you." Sami replied before he and Aestrid left. "If they do find him, they'll most likely beat him to death." He said as they got into the Chevy Equinox and drove off.

At the Performance Centre, it didn't take them long to find Finn and Amanda.

"He hates me." Finn said.

"He doesn't hate you. In a way, he's like Hunter. He still sees that kid running around the arenas on a sugar rush… a lot of the older guys still see me as that kid." Amanda replied as Aestrid and Sami walked over. "Hey, you two." She said.

"Hey… Be prepared, Adrian seems likely to come running soon. Not at you, through you to Natasha." Aestrid replied.

"Damn, she must've hit him harder than we thought." Amanda said.

"That's what we were thinking." Sami replied as Amanda looked out into the parking lot and saw Seth getting out of a rental car.

"Should've known." Amanda muttered before Aestrid walked outside to Seth.

"Ace-" Seth started to say.

"Back off!" Aestrid said.

"She's been ducking my calls after the last one!" Seth responded.

"For a reason! People she thought she could trust have turned on her, Natasha went away and she knows damn well that you lash out at the first _blink_ of Finn even near her!" Aestrid replied angrily.

"That shoulder injury…" Seth started to ask.

"Wasn't intentional but Adrian didn't seem to give a fuck." Aestrid finished, Seth knowing that she rarely swore.

He walked around to the side of the building, walking in through that door and finding Hunter after Kevin had left.

"I take it you ran into Aestrid." Hunter said.

"Yeah, she didn't say when Natasha would be back." Seth responded, sitting down to take the weight off of his surgically repaired right knee and Hunter knowing that look.

"It's gonna be some time before she calms down… you know how Mandy is." Hunter said.

"I just… I feel like I lost her for good this time." Seth responded as Hunter sat down, knowing he was thinking back.

 _ **NXT TakeOver R Evolution, 12/11/14…**_

" _There she is." Aestrid said, Seth going to hug Amanda but stopped when he saw the black, white and red wings painted on her._

" _Hey… where's my hug?" Amanda asked._

" _Who's idea was it to paint this on you?" Seth responded._

" _Hunter's… Seth, it's just part of the storyline me and Finn have together." Amanda said as Aestrid walked over._

" _I don't like it and that outfit isn't exactly family friendly!" Seth said, pointing to Amanda's red and black low cut crisscrossed red halter top and red leather shorts._

" _Well I don't like you acting like an arrogant jackass on Tv every week and saying that me, Dean and Roman were nothing but co-workers to you but I can't control that, can I?!" Amanda snapped at him before Finn reached them._

" _What the hell's going on here?!" Finn asked, putting Amanda behind him in a protective manner._

" _Seth, I was gonna tell you before you rushed off that the creative team's changing things up." Aestrid said._

" _And what have they changed then?! What other stupid ideas are there on the papers now?!" Seth questioned angrily._

" _I haven't had a storyline that didn't involve John or Randy in any way since I've been here and now I'm starting to see why The Shield fell apart, because you're a selfish, possessive son of a bitch! You're acting like Cody did when I was getting to know you!" Amanda responded, Seth turning angrier and trying to grab Amanda but Finn stopped him._

" _Hands off her, Mandy's only making a new start in her career and there is nothing wrong with that! She doesn't want to keep fighting with you, it adds to the tension and distance she's felt from you." Finn said, trying to keep his own temper controlled but Seth's temper was boiling._

" _Listen to him, Seth, you haven't wanted to hear anything Mandy's said. She needs this resurgence in her career." Aestrid responded._

" _It seems without any thought to those who got her this far too! Without me behind her, she'd be nothing! And if you're gonna forget that and dust me off your shoulder, well I'll pull you right back to the earth my-fucking-self!" Seth said, louder as he reached the end._

" _The last time you were standing behind me was with a steel chair in hand that broke my damn thigh and kneecap. How was I not supposed to take that personally, Colby Daniel?" Amanda responded, calling Seth by his real name before Aestrid dragged Seth off and Finn rested his hands on Amanda's shoulders._

" _You're still angry about it…" Finn said quietly._

" _Everything flipped onto its head that night… I went from being on the road to having to take time off. And he never even apologized for it, not that I'm ever gonna get one… he screwed me over and then acts like I'm the one who stabbed him in the back. I just wanted to leave the fighting between him and me in the ring, that's where it should be left when the cameras go off." Amanda responded as she felt Finn's hands rest on both sides of her face… and both heard Seth scream in pain. "If he pissed Ace off, she'll never forgive him."_

" _Damn right… and he'll never forget her either, put it that way." Finn replied._

 _Amanda nodded… and hissed slightly as pain spasmed through her healing left kidney, Finn getting her to sit down._

" _Never standing by the steel steps again." Amanda muttered before both saw Aestrid walk back to them._

" _That scared the hell out of me that night." Aestrid said, stretching the fingers on her right hand…_


	6. Grudges

**Present time…**

"Well that lead went nowhere…" Natasha muttered as she reached Full Sail University for the NXT taping that had been delayed.

"No luck finding him yet?" She heard, looked and saw Sami.

"You… shouldn't follow me, what I'm doing will get you killed for being near it." Natasha responded.

"I wasn't following… but I know you went looking for him. I know you well, Natasha." Sami said, Natasha knowing that was true.

"Yeah… they had to scrap Mandy's match, how's Emma taking it?" Natasha replied… before both heard the crashing sound of a trash can.

"Not well at all… now if Mandy's opponent had been Asuka or Bayley, that'd be a different story." Sami answered.

"Wouldn't it always?" Natasha responded, going quiet for a moment afterwards. "Sami, I… sometime soon, I wanted to show you something… maybe when everyone's more stable."

Sami was about to ask when Natasha stopped him.

"Things were different then…" Natasha said before she went to find Nikki and Sami went to Amanda and Finn's locker room, finding Amanda asleep on the couch.

"How long is her arm gonna be in that sling?" Sami asked.

"Six weeks… where's Natasha?" Finn responded, pulling the blanket over Amanda.

"She's here but she'll explain it later." Sami said, walking over and lightly crouching down to Amanda.

"Sami, let her sleep." Finn responded as Sami waved his hand in front of Amanda's face, Amanda groaning and pulling the blanket over her head.

"Sami, I normally have a lot of energy but these painkillers are making me drowsy." Amanda mumbled.

"Alright, Mands. Just wanted to let you know that Natasha's back safely." Sami replied quietly.

"Any sign of Lorka?" Amanda asked, pulling the blanket down a bit.

"Nope. And I'm not sure he remembers breaking your arm." Sami answered, lightly kissing her on her forehead before leaving.

"Lorka's hiding… he could be scared of her." Amanda said after Finn sat down and rested her legs on his lap, Finn reaching over and lightly tugging on some of her hair.

"And if he is, then we're safe. For him to be scared of her, she must have the power over him and he knows it." Finn replied.

Amanda carefully sat up, the script no longer in her lap.

"How long was I asleep?" Amanda asked, seeing the script on the table.

"About an hour… you needed it, love." Finn answered, carefully wrapping his arms around Amanda as she leaned against him.

Before the two could kiss though, a loud knock echoed on the door and Adrian yelling at them to open it.

"Let me take a swing at him." Amanda said, attempting to stand up but Finn stopped her. "Come on, he needs to be punched." She said before he stood up and opened the door, slamming his fist into Adrian's face.

"Damn it!" Adrian yelled, his hands over his broken nose.

"Well that's for putting my girlfriend's arm in a sling!" Finn responded, Adrian looking at him in disbelief after dropping his hands to his sides and a humorless smirk appearing as soon as the word 'girlfriend' left Finn's mouth.

"And how long is this one gonna last before you find some other unsuspecting girl to charm, Balor?" Adrian asked, Amanda standing up.

"People change as they get older, they get to that point in their lives where they're past casual flings… you're settled down yourself, you should know that. Unless you're screwing around behind Natalie's back and you have her believing she married the perfect guy." Amanda responded, Finn taking her right hand into his left one and Adrian looking at her, angered that she brought up his marriage.

"So you're gonna bring that into this, are you?! Well, a piece of your mind for a piece of mine, you seem to be quite open to knowingly yet in denial, becoming the three month thing of the men who take a hit for you in that ring, one move of protection and you're on them like a bitch in heat! Maybe that's why Randy found it so easy to just-" Adrian responded angrily… and before he'd even finished, just as Amanda had curled her toes ready to throw her full strength at him, he yelled out in agony as a whip seemingly made of fire cracked around him, wrapping around his waist twice before dragging him down the hall to a red eyed, lowly growling Natasha.

"You really don't take the damn hint, do you?! Bringing Randy up, that's low even for you!" Natasha said before throwing Adrian into the nearby production crate.

Adrian pulled himself up and coughed a bit before he left, Natasha knowing that she had him scared. Natasha walked down the hallway after turning back to her human form, seeing the look in Amanda's eyes.

"Not too hard to guess however he found out." Amanda said.

"You're quiet about it, doesn't mean others are." Finn responded, Natasha nodding in agreement.

 _ **NXT Taping, Asuka vs Alexa Bliss…**_

"Well I have to say I never thought I'd see this match but as we're nearing TakeOver, Dallas, Asuka needs every bit of momentum she can get." Amanda said, Corey noticing that the younger wrestler was unusually quiet and saw her and Finn holding hands.

"Maybe one of you can explain who exactly that is at ringside?" Corey asked, motioning to Natasha.

"Nikki Cross's friend Natasha… she's here observing, hoping to find ways to harness her strength in that ring." Finn answered as Asuka locked Alexa in an armbar.

Alexa wasted no time in tapping out, Asuka's hand being raised in victory.

In the backstage area, Amanda found Natasha.

"So, thoughts so far on the different in ring styles?" Amanda asked.

"A couple but… I suppose my first focus should be to train to not resort to my 'true form' when I get a scratch on my cheek." Natasha responded, glancing at the small collection of scars that were on the inner side of her right forearm, Amanda noticing a similar collection of them on the other arm in the same area and realising that in the past, Natasha had concealed any scars she had to anyone but now, she'd let them show.

"I used to hide mine too…" Amanda said before sitting down and folding up the right side of her leggings, Natasha seeing a scar below the knee that was about a little over a year old.

"Damn, how did that happen?" Natasha asked.

 _ **2/11/15, NXT TakeOver Rival…**_

 _Their heads snapped up when they heard her scream, Finn immediately getting out of the ring to check on Amanda and Ty trying to climb the barricade, Liara stopping him as Adrian went to find the paramedics._

" _Why are they always shoving each other into the steel steps?!" Ty asked, half shouting._

" _It looked scripted but also looked like she landed wrong." Liara responded as Finn was holding a towel to the wound on Amanda's leg with his right hand, his left hand brushing Amanda's hair back._

" _Same damn leg…" Amanda said quietly._

" _I didn't hear anything break, I think it just needs to be stitched up." Finn responded as he tied the towel like a tourniquet and helped Amanda up to her feet, his arms locked around her._

" _Fuck, fuck, fuck…" Amanda muttered under her breath as she tried to move her leg forward but couldn't, Finn picking her up in his arms and taking her to the back._

 _Looking around showed them no signs of Adrian… until he ran to them with one of the trainers._

" _Paramedics were out on a call, some kind of strange accident on the highway." Adrian explained when he saw the questioning looks… he was about to step forward when he was pulled back and saw Liara. "I just wanted to check on her." He said._

" _Touch her and you won't have to worry about Finn kicking your ass because I'll do it myself!" Liara growled threateningly._

" _I wasn't trying to hurt her-" Adrian said, Liara slapping him._

" _Maybe, but you won't look her in the eye and apologise, will you?! To me, that says the hurt was a happy accident, you're glad it happened!" Liara responded._

 _Adrian left, shaking his head and rubbing his face as Amanda glanced up at Finn, who's grip on her had instinctively tightened._

" _Finn, you're fingers are digging into my arm and knee." Amanda said, Finn snapping out of it and setting her on the crate._

" _Sorry, love." Finn responded, lightly kissing Amanda on the side of her head._

" _You're getting really protective of her…" Liara said quietly._

" _After what's happened, we can't really blame you." Val responded after walking over._

" _The guys aren't planning to beat Adrian to a pulp, are they?" Amanda asked, looking around for Ty, JJ, Wayne and Gin._

" _They'll keep to just very slowly, one by one, bending his fingers until the tips touch the backs of his wrists." Val replied._

" _That's normally what my brothers did whenever older kids hassled me." Amanda said…_


End file.
